here at the u.s. supreme court again all eyes were on potential swing judge anthony kennedy and on a feisty senior citizen who lost her spouse and today had her biggest day in court. the second gay marriage argument at the high court was still a hot ticket. today's case was 8 #-year-old new yorker edie. when he partner of 44 years who she married in canada died, edie had to pay $363,000 in federal inheritance taxes, instead of zero because the u.s. defense i marriage act, doma, passed in 1996, denies federal marriage benefits like tax breaks to same-sex couples. liberal justice ruth bader ginsburg complained doma created two marriages. the full marriage and then the skim milk marriage. >> swing justice anthony kennedy said doma intrudes on states who

choose to recognize gay marriage. the defensing lawyer argued it helps the u.s. military keep couples from refusing transfers that allow gay marriage. attorney general eric holder enforced drk oma. he sent no lawyer to defend it today. >> i'm wondering if we're living in this new world where the attorney general can simply decide it's unconstitutional. >> after the argument edie was optimistic. zbr i felt very respected. and i think it's going to be good. >> and as a lesbian, she feels liberated. >> i'm talking to you freely. i would have been hiding in a closet ten years ago. >> a ruling in the doma case comes in a few months.

>> most court watches are predicting with anthony kennedy, the swing justice, voting that doma is likely to be declared unconstitutional. miswindsor may get her money back. i'm steve handlesman, nbc bay area news. >> coming up on nightly news, more on the showdown at the supreme and the clues and hints on how the justices could rule on the defensive federal marriage act. santa clara is now the first city in the country to use the energy center to power the wi-fi service. >> reporter: well, terry, let's start by saying that santa clarans are not getting the new wi-fi through the power meters, but they are getting it because of the power meters. advanced meters like this one

similar to the smart meters that pg&e uses. to get the data they had to build up a wi-fi network to replace the one they bought in 2004. as they built the million dollar wi-fi secure network, they discovered they could offer free wi-fi connection for not much more. >> the most favorite part was putting in the utility use. adding free wi-fi to a system that already exists was very easy. >> silicon valley power will spend $200,000 a year to provide the free wi-fi to anyone who works, plays or visits santa clara. just a fraction of the $300 million in revenue the utility generates a year. as with all public open wi-fi networks, they're great for surfing the net, looking up your favorite menu or pulling up a map.

you should use a more secure network for that. by the way, the new advanced meters are going into homes and businesses later this year. folks can opt out and still use the free public wi-fi. >> lots of information there, thanks, chris. it looks like the hayward woman cheated out of thousands in super bowl tickets may get the last laugh. this man is accused of taking her money and mocking her. now he is behind bars. prosecutors will charge him with theft. police say he put up a craigslist ad for four super bowl tickets. sharon jumped on the deal. after four days of phone calls and e-mails, she wired him $5,900. instead of the tickets she got a taunting note saying go ravens. when the story made national news the ceo of ticketmaster gave the family four super bowl tickets. if any money is recovered, it will go to ticketmaster.

take a look at this. san francisco fire investigators are calling the four-alarm fire suspicious. it damaged three buildings early this morning. the fire started at 1:00 a.m. near third street. it quickly spread to two neighboring buildings. 20 people are now working with the red cross to find somewhere else to live. and spring training is winding down and the giants will be back in action at home in san francisco tomorrow night. right now at&t park, the field crew is busy getting things ready for the exhibition game. they host the oakland a's. the giants execs spent timesharing what is in store for the season. it that includes new food at the ballpark. officials say it's just a taste of the yearlong celebration set for the fans of the world championship giants. >> when you get to the winter months, you can't wait to get

together again, and it's really truly, we have a game here tomorrow night. opening day is right around the corner. fans can't wait to get in the ballpark, smell the garlic fries and start enjoying baseball. >> no, they can't. tomorrow night's game starts at 7:15. friday night's game can be seen here on nbc bay area. the proud broadcast home of the world champion giants. >> that has a nice ring to it. >> it sounded like thunder and created a path of destruction. >> and then predicting cancer risks earlier. a new discovery to prove the way doctors treat all types of diseases plus -- >> we don't always get to put smiles on people's faces when they see us. it's nice to put a smile on their face when they see us coming through the door. >> a mission to save a life and make a sick child smile.

what is s.w.a.t. team did to make a little boy's wish come true. wide cloud cover this afternoon, a strong onshore flow and fog at the coastline. we've already seen a little bit of drizzle from the coast to the northbay. we'll let you know how much more is in the easter weekend forecast coming up.

massive landslides are threatening more than a dozen homes. you see this sheer cliff, but there was not one before. neighbors heard something that sounded like thunder. two homes are in danger of falling. one home in the lower area moved several hundred feet. it is badly damaged. 17 homes are now isolated because the roads are no longer

passable. to this one has been hurt. >> making a deal to save his own life. the suspect in last year's colorado theater shooting wants to plead guilty. attorneys are offering the guilty plea to avoid him getting the death penalty. holmes is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting rampage that killed 12 people and injured dozens more at an aurora, colorado, movie theater last july. they want to put an end to the case. the san jose s.w.a.t. team were at the hospital in santa clara today, but this was much different than most missions. their target was a 6-year-old boy who is fighting for his life with leukemia. damian trujillo has the emotional mission that you'll only see here. >> where eduardo is a first

grader. he's on his second battle with cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life. today san jose emergency unit responded to his emergency. they stormed into the hospital in full gear. it was another life saving mission for the san jose merge unit and waiting to be saved -- >> you feeling okay today? >> was eduardo. >> this is a uniform worn by the s.w.a.t. team. >> eduardo is battling leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. today he was weakened by the chemotherapy. in a class essay he once wrote his dream was to be a s.w.a.t. team member. he now officially is one. >> since you demonstrated you have all that it takes to be a merge officer, i would like to give this to you. it's our "h" pin. only worn by the s.w.a.t. officers. >> he was so happy. he didn't speak anything. i can see it in his eyes. >> i think it's amazing.

he's always been talking about wanting to be part of the s.w.a.t. team. this is a dream. >> these tough men are used to knocking down doors and tackling the bad guys. today you saw the other side of the s.w.a.t. team. >> very, very emotional. i had to hold my breath several times and stop, catch my breath. the tears were ready to come out. >> we don't really always get to put smiles on people's faces when they see us. it's nice to put a smile on someone's face when they see us coming through the door. >> fill out the consent form, dee a cheek swab and you're done. >> they went to the donor registry area where they swabbed their cheeks. they, too, want to be donors and perhaps save another life. maybe the life of their new s.w.a.t. brother. the national bone marrow registry is always in need of more donors.

the membership continues to lag well behind other donor registries. riverbend elementary is inviting all latinos to a bone marrow drive. a cheek swab is all it takes. it's painless and doesn't take long. it's happening friday on broadway in san jose. i'm damien trujillo. in health matters, doubling the chance to catch cancer early. scientists know of twice as many genes linking to breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. researchers worked together to identify genes that can one day tell men and women if they carry an increased risk for cancers. the genetic information may be put into practice within five or ten years. stha hope it will lead to new drugs to battle the diseases.

every 26 hours americans drink enough water bottles to circle the equator with the containers. he wants to ban plastic water bottles at event where is water stations are available. he would ban selling plastic bottles at all future events except sports and the airport. the golden gate national recreation park and yosemite national park. an underwater camera lost off the coast of hawaii five years ago has turned up nearly 7,000 miles away. someone found the camera while on a beach. the waterproof casing was still intact. so the men downloaded the photographs. through a lot of research and a little help from facebook, he was able to track down the owner in georgia of all places. she said she lost the camera during a night dive in 2007. china airlines has offered her an all expense paid trip to taiwan to come get her camera.

remarkable, right? >> hard to believe, but obviously true. let's look at jeff and see what's going on weather wise. we were talking rain. >> i thought there was a little more coming on out. as we head through the next 6 to 12 hours we'll watch it drizzle up on the coastline. right now we have dense fog at the coast and a few areas of drizzle. this is helping to transport in the marine layer for the entire bay area, and that is producing a little bit of airport delays here in san francisco. we're only going with minor delays for the fog and areas of drizzle. we'll likely keep delays in the forecast. here's you're first look at the next 12 hours. if you have a morning flight leaving for tomorrow you'll also likely face delays. around 11:00 a.m. we'll get sun and temperatures in the low 60s

for tomorrow. let's get you outside to the sky camera. there's the fog machine going at the san bruno mountain. that's a huge part of the weather story currently. also our brand new high definition camera here showing a lot of traffic. something going on in the center lane and plenty of fog with drizzle at the coastline. as you head throughout san francisco, watch out for slow spots on the roadways. we have cloud tops with build up and then also sun on the right hand side of your screen. a beautiful day with a few traces of measurable rain throughout the coast and peninsula. storm doors opening up. this weak system tonight and early tomorrow morning continues to break up. not much more than that. by this weekend, it is looking more and more likely that as our system for saturday and sunday approaches, it's going to give us a decent chance of thunderstorm activity. tomorrow morning we have the

best chance of shower on the coastline and north bay. maybe a spotty shower back at the east bay at 5:00 a.m. by the afternoon, it looks to stay pretty much cloudy here throughout your thursday. we'll get unfiltered sunshine for the south bay and the tri valley as well. tonight temperatures dropping to the 40s. not too bad with the cloud cover overhead. it's going to be more on the mild side. 47 at san jose. 48 in livermore. mid-40s in the northbay. if you happen to get some sort of clearing through the clouds we have a full moon that will look great. thursday temperatures are in the upper 60s. 66 in dublin. also 68 in wal nutd creek. it will go with low 60s back by the bay. 60 degree there is. 63 in santa rosa. 50s throughout the coastline. we keep a chance of showers still here for thursday morning throughout friday, saturday and

for easter sunday as we'll have a slight chance of thunderstorms as the forecast models are beefing that up a little bit. all in all it looks to be very scattered in nature the next several days. so you may need the umbrella at a time or two. >> thank you very much. >> no problem. still ahead, restaurant revenge. what a chef is doing to fight back against reservation no shows. and a change on the way for san francisco's skyline.

transportation leaders broke

ground on what will eventually be the tallest building on the west coast. it will stand 1,070 feet near first and mission in san francisco. it will be the seventh tallest building this the united states. the tower will be part of the new terminal to serve at the hub for 11 transit agencies and possibly high speed rail. it will replace the old terminal that was torn down in 2008. they say it will change the city's skyline dramatically. >> we will also mark that the central place in the city is our transit station. the developer handed him a check for $192 million for the property. both the tower and the terminal are set to open in about 2017. the next time you reserve a table at a restaurant and don't show up, you may face public

humiliation. red medicine, a restaurant specializing in vietnamese fusion. all the nice guests who wonder why restaurants overbook and have to wait for their reservations should thank people like those below. ow. >> that will have people pouring back in. we'll be right back.

hewlett packard wants its name off. mig whitman would like to end the agreement that cost hp more than $8 million a year. the deal is set to expire in

2016. in changes would need to be approved by city council. the home to the san jose sharks widely known as the shark tank. before we let you go, we want to know there is police activity on 87th. we don't have a lot of details at this point, but we are working a story right now. we'll have full coverage coming up at 6:00. >> well, thanks very much for joining us. "nightly news" is coming up next.

on the broadcast tonight, a tipping point in the fight over same-sex marriage. it appears that way after

today's dramatic showdown at the supreme court as an 83-year-old widow leads the charge. early warning for some of the deadliest forms of cancer. doctors have made a big discovery. what's being called a breakthrough in the fight. on edge and a neighborhood in danger after massive landslides in the middle of the night. evacuations under way for the people left trapped in their homes. making history at the agency that protects the president. tonight we'll look at the new woman in charge at the secret service. and a dire warning about what's being called the largest cyberattack in history. what's being called the largest cyberattack in history. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. for the second straight day the subject of same-sex marriage has been before the highest court in the land. two landmark cases in two days as a topic that is moving quickly in terms of public

opinion comes before a court that tends to move slowly. today, doma was being argued -- the defense of marriage act -- from the mid 1990s. it is a federal law that defines marriage only as the union of a man and a woman, regardless of what happens in the individual states. and today's result from the court may differ from yesterday's. again tonight we begin at the court. our justice correspondent pete williams was inside for today's arguments. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. it did appear yesterday that the justices were looking for a way to rule narrowly on prop 8. today they seemed bolder. it does appear that at least five of them are prepared to say doma is unconstitutional and strike it down. gay rights supporters at the court cheered the 83-year-old new york woman at the center of the case, edie windsor.